HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



92b. Second glume 10 mm. long or shorter; lemmas usually softly 

 pubescent; awns 1 — 2 cm. long. Fig. 129. 



DOWNY BROME Bromus fecforum L. 



Annual; tufted; plants 30 — 60 cm. tall; pani- 

 cles drooping. 5 — 15 cm. long. The drooping, 

 reddish panicles are rather ornamental, but the 

 plants make poor, sparse feed and the sharp- 

 pointed callus of the lemmas or the awns may 

 penetrate the facial tissues of grazing animals. 

 Of all the weedy European bromes, this is the 

 commonest and most widespread. May — June. 

 Melica smithii (see 56b) might be keyed here by 

 the unwary. The plants are not hairy and it is 

 a woodland perennial. 



Figure 129 



93a. Awns 2 — 3 cm. long; first glume about 8 mm. long. Fig. 130. 



Bromus sterilis L. 



Annual; tufted; culms erect; plants 50 — 

 100 cm. tall; leaf sheaths softly hairy or 

 nearly smooth; ligules prominent, mem- 

 branous, with a lacerated edge; leaf blades 

 soft, sparsely hairy or nearly glabrous; 

 panicles 10 — 20 cm. long, open, with rather 

 stiffly spreading or drooping branches; 

 spikelets 2.5 — 3.5 cm. long, with 6 — 10 

 florets; lemmas 17 — 20 nmi. long, scabrous 

 or stiff-pubescent; lateral teeth of the lem- 

 ma about 2 mm. long. The stiff florets, 

 provided with sharp calluses and stiff 

 barbed awns, penetrate the facial tissues 

 of grazing animals. Since the plants are 

 shallow-rooted annuals, they soon dry up 

 and their forage value becomes very low. 

 While very widespread in the United 

 States, B. sterilis is nowhere particularly 

 common. Introduced from Europe. April 

 -July. 



Figure 1 30 



68 



